Coroner vs. medical examiner: Should Clark County switch systems?

With astir 2.3 cardinal residents, Clark County is 1 of the astir populous jurisdictions with a coroner overseeing decease investigations alternatively of a aesculapian examiner.

Medical examiners’ offices are tally by a licensed doc portion coroners are usually appointed oregon elected officials with small oregon nary aesculapian training. Clark County coroner unit are liable for determining the origin of suspicious and convulsive deaths, investigating suicides, and helping constabulary place victims done fingerprints and dental X-rays.

Washoe County operates with a aesculapian examiner system, arsenic bash counties that see the ample metropolitan areas of Denver, Seattle, San Diego, San Francisco, Portland, Oregon, and Phoenix. Los Angeles County has a aesculapian examiner-coroner. Orleans Parish successful Louisiana has a coroner who serves less than 400,000 people.

Dr. Marcella Fierro, who served arsenic a main aesculapian examiner successful Virginia and co-authored a cardinal survey for the National Research Council successful 2009 that recommended each coroners’ offices person to aesculapian examiners, said Clark County should alteration its decease probe system.

“It would beryllium bully for Clark County to person a aesculapian examiner-run office,” she said. “They person an absorbing premix of cases and radical from each implicit the satellite and request a precocious level of competency.”

But Clark County Assistant Manager Jeff Wells said determination are truthful fewer certified forensic pathologists disposable that having 1 instrumentality up his oregon her clip arsenic a manager alternatively of completing autopsies would beryllium a discarded of the doctor’s aesculapian skills.

Charleston County, S.C., Coroner Bobbi Jo O’Neal, who is president of the International Association of Coroners and Medical Examiners, said the prime of autopsies and investigations depends connected the idiosyncratic moving the bureau and the grooming provided to staff.

“There are immoderate mediocre coroners’ offices astir and precise bully and precise mediocre aesculapian examiners,” she said, adding that being an elected coroner gives her independency from extracurricular influence.

Clark County Coroner Melanie Rouse, who was appointed successful June, leads an bureau of 41 full-time staff, including an adjunct coroner, 15 investigators and supervisors, a twelve forensic techs and assistants, 5 aesculapian examiners and enactment staff. The bureau is funded for 53 full-time unit and astir 30 part-time employees.

Rouse said tiny coroner’s offices that don’t person medically trained unit determining the origin and mode of decease are the biggest concern.

“One of the important things is having aesculapian examiners doing aesculapian investigations,” said Rouse, who antecedently worked for 16 years astatine the Maricopa County aesculapian examiner’s office, rising to main decease researcher and operations manager. “We bash person that here.”